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Sir Ian McKellen's most iconic role is Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films, but he could have played an all-powerful wizard from another beloved book-turned-movie series too!

That's right, the veteran actor was approached about taking over as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films following the 2002 death of the OG Richard Harris.

Making an appearance on BBC's HARDtalk show, the 77-year-old explained he couldn't take over Harris' role because he knew the late actor wasn't a fan of his acting abilities!

Host Stephen Sackur brought up the alleged quote by Harris, where he called McKellen and a few other actors "technically brilliant but passionless." While McKellen thinks Harris' critique is "nonsense," he still "couldn't take over the part from an actor who I'd known didn't approve of me."

Eventually, Michael Gambon took over as the Hogwarts Headmaster for the rest of the series. But McKellen doesn't have any hard feelings, quipping that Gandalf is "the real wizard." Ha!

And the shadiest, apparently! For more roles that could have been…

CLICK HERE to view "Movies That Almost Had Completely Different Stars!"

CLICK HERE to view "Movies That Almost Had Completely Different Stars!"

CLICK HERE to view "Movies That Almost Had Completely Different Stars!"

CLICK HERE to view "Movies That Almost Had Completely Different Stars!"

CLICK HERE to view "Movies That Almost Had Completely Different Stars!"